Printing mechanism



Oct. 24, 1944. R. o. BuEHLr-:R 2,361,260

PRINTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 15, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet l C- 249 1944 R. D. BU'EHLER PRNTNG MECHNSM Filed Sept. l5, 1941 4 SheetSwSheeh 2 Oct. 24, 1944- R. o. BUEHLER PRINTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet Oct. 24, 1944. R, Q, BUEHLER PRINTING MEGHANISM Filed Sept. 15, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Oct. 24, 1944 2,361,260 PRINTING MECHANISM Robert 0. Buehler, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Victor Adding Machine Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 13,.,1941, Serial No. 410,691 l (Cl. lill-96) Claims.

My invention relates generally to printing mechanisms, and more particularly to improvements in means for printing identifying words in association with amount designations on the record strips of adding and calculating machines.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved mechanism forming part of an adding or calculating machine whereby amount characterizing or classifying indicia may be selectively imprinted upon the record tape.

A further object is to provide an improved word printing mechanism for adding machines and the like wherein the words to be printed may be changed at will and any one of a plurality of selected words may be instantaneously conditioned for printing by a simple act of the operator.

A further object is to provide an improved word printing mechanism for adding machines and the like capable of printing simultaneously with the amount a plurality of identifying indicia, a plurality of combinations of which may be preset and thereafter individually used at will.

A further object is to provide an improved identifying Word printing mechanism for adding machines and the like capable of printing any one of a group of words by the depression of a single key, and in which' the words of the group may bechanged at will.

A further object is to provide an improved printing mechanism for adding machines and the like which is very flexible in operation, may be economically manufactured, and which may be incorporated in a conventional adding or cal- ,culating machine without appreciably altering the construction of the latter.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

y Fig. l is a plan view of an adding machine incorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken generally on the lines 2 2 of Figs. 1 and 3;

Fig. 3 is a generally transverse sectional View drawn to an enlarged scale, and taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, some of the parts being omitted and others shown in section, more clearly to illustrate the operative parts of the mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional'view showing the details of the keys and word setting wheels;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of one of the type wheels;

Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the setting wheels;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of an adding machine incorporating a modified form of the invention; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views taken on the lines 8-8 and 9 9 of Fig. 7.

In the use of adding and silnilar machines, it is frequently desirable to have the tally or paper record strip thereof provide some identifying legend to indicate the character of the transactions represented by the amounts printed thereon. For example,4 adding machines are rfrequently used in conjunction with a cash drawer as a cash register, and especially under these circumstances it is useful for the proprietor to be able to ascertain from the tally strip the classes of goods represented by the sales or credit amounts printed on the strip. At the end of the day, the tally record may then be used for various recapitulation and bookkeeping purposes.

In other uses of adding machines, it is likewise frequently desirable, whenever the record strip is retained for checking'or record purposes, to be able to determine from the strip itself the type of transaction represented by each of f the amounts printed on the record strip. l

It has been proposed in the past to accomplish this purpose by providing an additional type wheel bearing logotypes to imprint the desired identifying Word adjacent the amounts on the record strip and to provide keys or other means for selecting the word to be printed. Due to the frequently changing uses to which an adding machine may be put, and due to the changing character of the transactions in a given business, such mechanisms did not prove satisfactory since it was obviously inconvenient to obtain a new type wheel every time it was desired to change one or more of the logotype appearingy thereon. By the use of the present invention, such difficulty is oh viated since the user of the machine may readily change the identifying words to be printed and may set up the machine so as to imprint any one of a plurality of words simply be the de pression of a single key.

As shown in Fig. 1, the invention is incorporated in an adding machine comprising a case Ill having an amount keyboard I2, an operating handle i4, a platen I6 with the usual paper feed mechanism and inking ribbon. for making print ing impressions upon a record strip i8. The mau chine may be equipped with any suitable operation controls, such as indicated at i9 and 20. The adding machine may, of course, be of any suitable construction capable of imprinting the amounts added or subtracted and positive or neg ative totals, together with such identifying characters as 'I, ST, NP, CR, etc., as is common in the art.

In addition to the numeral keys and any other control keys which may be provided, the keyboard includes a plurality of keys 22 located adjacent sight openings or windows 24 formed in the keyboard plate 26.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the printing mechanisrn is illustrated as comprising type wheels 28, each rotatably mounted upon a stud 30 carried by an arm. As indicated in Fig. 5, each of the type wheels has type to print twenty-three letters of the alphabet and in addition has a blank space. The type for the letters "O" and Q, U and V, and X and "Z are respectively combined into composite characters, readable as either of the two characters, so as to reduce the sizes of the type wheels and other parts.

Each of the studs 30 is secured to an arm 32 which is pivoted upon a cross rod 34 suitably supported in the main frame plates of the machine. Each of the type wheels 28 has a pinion 36 rigidly secured to or formed integrally therewith, this pinion meshing with an idler pinion 38 rotatably mounted upon its stud 39 secured to its associated arm 32. An alignment pawl 40 is provided for each of the type wheels, being pivoted on the cross rod 84. Each of thepawls 40 is urged to swing counter-clockwise with respect to its associated arm 32 by a spring 42 tensioned between ears 43 and 44 formed on the arm 32 and pawl 40, respectively. Such counter-clockwise movement of the retaining pawl with respect to its arm is prevented by a stop 48 when the parts are in the normal position shown in Fig. 2. so that when in this position, the idler pinion 38 is free to be rotated.

The idler pinion 38 is adapted to mesh with a segmental gear 48 mounted for rotation upon a fixed shaft 80. Each of the segmental gears 48 has a segmental pinion 52 rigidly secured thereto, the latter meshing with a rack 54 formed upon an actuator 58. 'I'he actuator 58 is mounted for reciprocation upon a pair of fixed rods 88, 8l, which extend through suitable slots 88 formed in the actuator, the actuators being suitably spaced by a comb 82 and urged to move rearwardly by tension springs 84, each of which has one end suitably secured to the comb 82 and its other end secured to one of the actuators. A restoring bail bar 88 extends through slots 88 formed in the actuators 58, and is reciprocated rearwardly and again forwardly at appropriate times in the operating cycle of the machine to permit the actuators 58 to travel rearwardly, thereby to set the type wheels 28, and upon completion of the printing operation to restore the actuators to normal position. An aligner bar is brought into engagement with the teeth of the segmental gears 48 after the actuators have completed their rearward motion so as to align the segments and thereby align theftype wheels 28. In the course of the printing operation, a restoring bail T2 is moved rearwardly and thereafter suitable latching means (not shown) are tripped to permit tension springs 14 to swing their respective type carrying arms 32 clockwise, to cause the type thereof to strike the ribbon 18 and make a printing impression upon the record strip I8.

The printing mechanism, as thus far described, is similar in construction and operation to that disclosed in greater detail and claimed in the co-pending application of Thomas O. Mehan, Serial No. 372,290, filed December 30, 1940` From the foregoing, it will appear that in order to obtain an impression of any desired word upon the record strip I8, it is necessary that the rearward travel of actuators 88 be differentially limited to bring the desired type in printing alignment. This means comprises a plurality of setting wheels 80, illustrated as comprising nine groups of six wheels each. Each group of setting wheels is mounted for rotation upon a shaft 82 projecting laterally from and rigidly secured to a key stem 84. 'I'he key stems 84 are suitably mounted for vertical reciprocation in a pair of keyboard frame plates 88 and 88 and have the key buttons 22 secured at their upper ends.

Each of the key stems is provided with a camming surface 80, adapted to engage sidewardly projecting lugs formed on a locking slide 82 which is urged to its rearward position by a tension spring 84 and is adapted to latch over a shoulder 88 formed on each of the key stems directly above its camming surface 80. Each of the keys 22 has a return spring 8`|. The arrangement is such that a. depressed key will be held in depressed position until another key is depressed or partially depressed. In addition to moving the latching slide 82 forwardly, the camming surface 90 of a depressed key also cams a disengaging slide 88 'forwardly and holds it in such forward position. The forward extremity of the disengaging slide 88 engages an arm 88 of a bail |00 suitably pivoted at |02 and urged to swing clockwise by a tension spring |04. The cross bar |08 of the bail |00 normally arrests the rearward movement of the actuators 88 by engaging with hookslll formed at the forward ends of the actuators.

Each of the setting wheels is rigidly secured to the sidewardly extending hub portion of a gear ||0 rotatable on one of the shafts 82, the setting wheels 80 being held by spring detents ||2 in any position to which they may be adjusted. The detents ||2 may be secured to the keyboard plate 28 and have suitably formed portions engageable with the teeth of the gears Ill. The spring detenta ||2 are sumciently elastic that upon downward movement of the setting wheels, they will follow the gears ||0 thereof until the latter mesh with gears ||4 which are rotatably mounted upon fixed shafts Ill. Each of the gears ||4 has a pinion ||8 rigidly secured thereto, these pinions being permanently in mesh with racks |20 formed upon the actuators 88.

Upon depression of a key stem, its gears ||0 engage their cooperating gears ||4, the key stem being latched in depressed position by the latching slide 92, with the gears ||0 and ||4 in engagement. the cross bar |08 of bail |00 from in front of the hooks |08 of the actuators 58, so that the latter are free to move rearwardly when the rcstoring bail bar 88 is moved rearwardly during the course of the operating cycle of the machine.

Each of the setting wheels 80 is provided with a stop lug |2i, which is adapted to cooperate with a stop pin or key |22 fixed on its shaft 82.

As indicated in Fig. 6, each of the setting wheels 80 has twenty-three letters of the alphabet marked upon its cylindrical surface to correspond with the type faces on type wheels 28, the letters being separated by grooves or notches |24 adapted to be engaged by a stylus inserted through the adjacent window or sight opening 24. Thus, by means of such stylus, the setting wheels 80 may be moved counter-clockwise from their normal positions shown to bring any de- Depression of the key also swings v aired letter beneath the sight opening. Any sixletter word r abbreviation may be set up on the setting wheels 80 and the operator of the machine will have, available nine six-letter words or abbreviations which may be printed adjacent the amount impression merely by depressing the appropriate key 22 at the time the amount keys are depressed. Any suitable means may be provided to move the latching slide 92 forwardly shortly before the completion of the operating cycle of the machine to permit the restoration to normal position of any depressed key under the influence of its restoring spring 91. Also, means may be provided to lock the latching slide 92 against forward movement throughout the operating cycle of the machine to prevent inadvertent depression of the keys 22 during this period.

In using the machine, the operator will first pre-set the setting wheels 80 to indicate the different words which he expects to have occasion to use, setting these members to indicate such words, as Dress Suit Shoes etc., as indicated in Fig. 1.

Thereafter, assuming the machine is being used in the manner of a cash register to record sales, and assuming' that the operator has sold a dress for $12.50, the operator will depress the key 22 associated with a group of setting wheels 80 which have been adjusted to register Dress and after depressing the appropriate amount keys of the keyboard l2, will operate the handle I4, or operate the motor control key, if the machine is electrically driven. Upon depression of one of the keys 22, the latching plate 92 will be operated to latch the key in depressed position, and the slide 99 will be moved forwardly by the camming surface 90 of the depressed key stem 84 to cause the cross bar of the bail |06 to drop from behind the hooks |08, thereby freeing the actuators 56 for rearward movement.

During the course of the operatingr cycle of the machine, as the restoring bail bar 68 is moved rearwardly, the tension springs 64 will slide the i'ourleft-most actuators 56 rearwardly. Since the depression of the key causes the gears |||l associated therewith to mesh with the cooperating gears ||4, it will be apparent that a positive driving connection between the setting wheels 00 and type wheels 28 will have been established. Therefore, the rearward movement of each of the actuators 56 will continue until the setting wheel 80 associated therewith has been returned clockwise to its normal position, when the movement is limited by engagement of its stop lug with the stop key |22. Such clockwise movement of the setting wheel results in corresponding counter-clockwise angular movement of associated type wheel 28. Since the arrangement of the type characters on the type wheels 28 corresponds with the arrangement of the letters marked upon the setting wheels 80 i see Figs. 5 and 6), the type characters corresponding to the letters initially will also prevent rotation oi' the type wheels during the return stroke of the type wheel carrying arms 32 so that the idler pinions 38 will engage the segmental gears 48 in proper mesh.

Upon completion of the printing operation, the actuators 58 will be drawn forwardly by the restoring bail bar 66 and will be latched in forward position by the engagement of their hooks |08 over the cross bar |06 of the bail |00. Such restoration of the actuators 56 will also result in restoring the setting wheels to the positions in which they were originally set, namely, to indicate the rWord Dress." After the setting wheels have been thus restored, the latching slide 92 will be moved forwardly, in the customary manner, to release the depressed key, and the latter will move upwardly, the setting of its wheels 80 being maintained by the spring detents H2.

From the foregoing, it will appear'that the operator may set the mechanism so as to make it capable of printing any one of nine pre-selected words or abbreviations of six letters or less merely by the depression of one of the keys 22, and that the words or abbreviations may be changed at will very quickly and easily. The machine is thus very exible in the sense that it may readily be adjusted for printing the words characteristic of particular kinds of businesses. The invention is very useful `from the point of view of the manufacturer andy salesman .as well as the user, since it is unnecessary to makeup specifically a typewheel containing the logotypes required i'or a particular business, but instead, the manufacturer or salesman may readily set the machine for the printing of the words selected by the customer.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 is disclosed a modification of the invention in which the setting of the type is controlled by notched plate keys. The type wheels and associated parts may be of the same construction as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, and the same reference characters have been applied to such of the parts as correspond with those previouslyldescribed. The type wheels are set by differentially movable actuators |30, each of which has at its forward end a series of twentyfour stepped stop faces |32 which are adapted, upon rearward movement of the actuators |38 under the influence of their springs 84, to engage a notched key plate |34. The notched key plate is firmly held in a. suitable guide |38 which is secured in keyboard frame plates |38, which may likewise be used as supports and guides for the numeral keys. Each of the notched key plates |34 has a forwardly extending flange |40 which limits the extent oi' insertion of the key in the guide |36 and on its outer surface bears a legend such as the word Dress appearing in Fig. '7. The key plate |34 has its notches cut out in such manner that upon the rearward movement of the actuators |30, they will be arrested in position to cause the faces of the type wheels 28 to be in position for printing the word Dress If a notch in the key plate |34 is so deep (as the notch in line with the right-most actuator |30 is shown in Fig. 9), the actuator will not be arrested by the key plate, but will continue its rearward movement through a complete stroke by the restoring bail bar 66 and bring the blank space of the type wheel 28 in the printing line. Thus, if, through inadvertence or by intent, no notched plate key |34 is inserted in the guide |36, all of the actuators |30 will move rearwardly through their full strokes, and no legend will be printed upon the record strip.

The notched plate keys may be easily inserted and removed from the guide |38, and for the sake of convenience, are preferably kept in a magazine |44 which may be secured to the adding machine casing and which is provided with a plurality of slots |46 in its top. Thus, upon removal of a given key |34 from its effective position in the guide |36, it may be placed in the convenient rack i and replaced by another key.

Thus, in using the machine of Figs. 7, 8, and 9, the operator need merely insert the proper key plate |34 in the guide |36, depress the appropriate amounA keys, and operate the machine, whereupon, a legend corresponding to the key plate selected will be printed adjacent the amount, all of the purposes heretofore described. If the same legend is to be repeated, the operator merely presses the required amount keys, since the identifying legend or word will be repeatedly printed adjacent the amounts upon successive operations of the machine, until the controlling notched key plate |34 is removed.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the more fundamental principles ofthe invention. I therefore desire, by the following claims, to include within the scope of my inventi\on, all such variations and modifications by the use of which substantially the results of my invention may be obtained by the use of the same or equivalent means.

I claim:

l. In a word printing mechanism for adding machines, the combination of a key, a shaft movable by said key, a plurality of manually set wheels rotatable on said shaft, stop means to limit rotational movement of said wheels, resilient detents to hold said wheels in set position, a plurality of type position controlling actuators, and means providing a driving connection between said wheels and actuators upon operation of said key.

2. In a machine for printing words, a plurality of word selecting keys, a. plurality of differentially settable stop devices for each of said keys, each of said stop devices comprising a gear and wheel having alphabetical indicia thereon, a machine casing having openings adjacent said wheels to permit adjustment of the stop position thereof, a detent for each of said wheels to hold it in adjusted position, a plurality of differentially movable type carriers each carrying type representing substantially all of the letters of the alphabet, and each associated respectively with one means operable upon depression of one of said keys to render its stop devices effective to control the differential movement of said type carriers.

3. In a machine for printing words, a plurality of word selecting keys, a plurality of dierentially settable stop devices for each of said keys. each of said stop devices comprising a gear and wheel having alphabetical indicia thereon, a machine casing having openings adjacent said wheels to permit adjustment of the stop position thereof, a plurality of differentially movable type carriers each carrying type representing substantially all of the letters of the alphabet, and each associated respectively with one of said stop devices of each of said keys, and means operable upon depression of one of said keys to render its stop devices effective to control the differential movement of said type carriers.

4. In a word printing mechanism, a plurality of differentially movable type carriers having type for printing substantially all of the letters of the ailphabet, an actuator for each oct said type carriers, each actuator having a rack portion, a plurality of groups of rotatable setting wheels each having a stop to limit its rotary movement to a stop position, a machine casing having openings adjacent said wheels whereby said wheels may be manually preset selected angular distances from their stop positions, gearing capable of forming driving connections between said rack portions and said wheels respectively, keys individually operable to cause said gearing to connect a selected group of said wheels with said actuator rack portions, and yielding means for operating said actuators under the control of the selected group of said wheels thereby to return said wheels to their stop positions and thus move said type carriers to positions corresponding in the angular distances to which the wheels of said group were manually preset.

5. In a printing machine, the combination of a plurality of type carriers having type faces capable of printing substantially all of the letters of the alphabet, differentially movable actuators for positioning said type carriers to imprint words, means to control the differential movement of said actuators, said last named means comprising a plurality of selectively operable keys, a plurality of setting wheels associated with each of said keys, stops to limit movement of said set ting wheels, detent means to hold said wheels in set position, a casing having openings exposing said wheels for manual setting in preselected positions relative to their limit stops, means operable upon depression of each of said keys to provide an operative connection between its associated setting wheels and said actuators, and yielding means to move said actuators in a direction to cause said setting wheels to be rotated toward their limit stop positions, whereby said setting wheels may limit the movement of said actuators and thereby control the positions of said type carriers.

ROBERT O. BUEHLER. 

